


Kageyama Tobio: Blood Mage

by CloudMonsta



Series: Vball Babs: Origins [6]
Category: Dragon Age: Origins, Haikyuu!!
Genre: (not like panic attack panic tho), Gen, Nightmares, a lil smidge of panic, more tags added when the first ch is unlocked, talking darkspawn cameos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 20:11:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9341315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudMonsta/pseuds/CloudMonsta
Summary: Kageyama Tobio is very private and secretive about his personal history. For a reason.





	1. Locked

**Author's Note:**

> Though the first chapter can be read as a standalone (when it is unlocked in the main storyline, for now it is blank, and will be edited with the ch when the story is "unlocked") this fic probably won't make much sense without reading the main fic, Dawn Will Come.

(Will be edited with full ch as unlocked via main storyline. Chapter two, however, will be up momentarily, if not already, ready for your perusal.)


	2. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama still isn't certain what to think of the easily frightened youngster who has become their leader of sorts… but he's kind, Kageyama will give him that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Great many thanks to my beta, Ro, who is simply THE BEST and whom this whole series wouldn't exist without. Enjoy some chilling tales.

What if…

Kageyama's brain whispered lies to him at night.

What if…

Lies that fed long-lived horrors, nestled deep in his memories.

_What if…_

Horrors that grew strong, burst forth as fully-fledged nightmares, plaguing his sleep.

_What if…_

Terrors he could never seem to escape.

 

…

 

What if Warden-Commander Akaashi had never met him.

What if the Warden-Commander hadn't taken pity.

What if the Templars had found him first.

 

…

 

A strong grip held his arm, dragging him away from the familiar vials and glyphs of his lab. He couldn't seem to escape, couldn't seem to access his magic, and he was physically weak from fatigue and hunger.

Templars had a disconcerting effect on mages, stealing their magic, sealing it away, their only defense.

"He will answer for his crimes!" A booming voice declared, and suddenly his laboratory has vanished, and he's back in a circle.

Which circle? He doesn't know, it's all a blur, but every circle looks the same, feels the same, a prison of suffocating walls and suffering.

He can _feel_ the pain around him, even though he can't seem to see clearly. He can hear the mental cries of the mages surrounding him throughout the building, but nowhere in his sight – his magic may be sealed away, on the surface, but just beneath it boils, roils, begs to be released.

It almost feels like a beast in his ribcage, pounding against the bones, fighting to escape.

Oh, wait.

That's just his heart.

"Akaashi!" He tries to cry out, but his mouth feels like it's filled with cotton, every sound muffled until it becomes unintelligible.

"He will pay for his crimes with his mind and his magic!"

They're going to take it away. They're going to take it all away.

His mind cries out at the thought, and he tries to fight harder, thrashes against the grip the templars have around him. Because of course it's the templars. It could only be the templars. Who else would hold him like this, keep him still, locked up, _contained_.

He feels them hold his shoulders down, and he struggles harder, pulls from side to side, any little movement he can get, scrunching his eyes shut against the sight in front of him.

"Kageyama," the templar says, pressing weight into his shoulders.

"Kageyama," they repeat, now shaking him back, his body moving violently with the action, everything in him fighting against it.

"Kageyama!"

At that sound, Kageyama can feel something inside him burst, and his hand breaks free, reaching forward blindly to grasp the offender as tightly as he had been grasped moments ago, his magic rushing through him, flowing into his prisoner.

"Wake up!"

Kageyama's eyes snap open, his heart beating double-time as he slowly registers his surroundings. He _does_ have someone held fast in his grip, but… he's not in a circle. He's not in any building at all, in fact. The familiar darkness of the night around him is calming, even as his heart insists he's moments from being sealed into his own mind forever.

With anger and fear burning equally in his eyes, he turns to look at who he holds captive, and…

Are there any templars that _small_?

His mind sluggishly catches up, realizes that he's got Hinata in his grip, Hinata whose eyes are round and wide and full of fear. A look Kageyama is not unfamiliar with.

He quickly pulls his hand back, trying not to look at the frosty handprint he leaves behind, still breathing heavily.

"S-sorry," he manages, forcing the desire to fight, to kick and run and scream and _escape_ from his veins, curling his arms to his chest protectively, unable to look away from those wide, bright, _scared_ eyes.

"…yeah," Hinata finally manages, gently rubbing at his arm. "You looked like you were having a nightmare."

Resigning himself to some semblance of a conversation, Kageyama sits up, slowly. His breath still comes too fast. His skin is covered in a light sheen of sweat, the kind that creeps up when you're facing a proper fear demon… or just the fears your own mind conjures up.

"I… get them a lot," he finally says, running a hand over his face to wipe off the cold sweat. The chill of the night is starting to seep into his bones, and having called freezing magic to himself earlier really doesn't help.

Hinata is still sitting, half crouched, far too close to him.

"Am I going to get them too?" And it's whispered, worried, quiet, almost intimate. Kageyama swears he could hear Hinata's heartbeat, now that his own has calmed down.

But he is also confused, at first. His mind frozen, his face blank. His eyes narrow, staring off into nothing. Why in the _world_ would Hinata, bright, insufferable, childlike and _non-magical_ Hinata, share his fears? As his brain catches up – makes the obvious connections, searches out the similarities and concerns shared between them both – he can't help but let a humorless chuckle escape.

"No, no," he says, not even trying to stifle the laugh, looking back up to meet Hinata's gaze, now decidedly less frightened that Kageyama isn't pumping him with ice. "You won't get these kind of nightmares.

"You can't," he adds in a mutter, angry that not everyone has to suffer from the same terrors as he does – or perhaps that he can't be one of those people who don't suffer from the horror of being locked inside themselves.

"The warden nightmares are worse, but only if you remember them," he adds as an afterthought, remembering back to the first few nights he woke from nightmares to Akaashi right there, waiting for him, comforting him about the fear he couldn't even recall. And then, when he could remember them… he shudders, brushes it away.

No one should have to remember the nightmares that plague their sleep.

"Oh." Hinata says, as if almost disappointed, though accepting. "What kind of nightmares were they, then?"

As if Kageyama's answer wasn't enough. As if he wants Kageyama to relive the terror, just to explain it to someone who could never understand it anyways.

Kageyama has long since learned he doesn't have to explain himself to _anyone_.

"It's nothing," he growls, "just stupid nightmares. Nothing a _non-mage_ like you could understand." He spits out the words like an insult, the way most people say "apostate" or "blood mage" when he walks by, filled with hate and spite.

Most people would leave it at that, drop it and go back to sleep, maybe insult him back.

Kageyama is starting to learn that Hinata is not most people.

"Bet I could!" Is the response, nearly shouted, and that surprises him. Kageyama glares at him, and Hinata hunches in on himself, lowers his voice, somewhat cowed but not entirely.

"I bet if you just _told me_ , I'd totally get it. Plus my mother always says that talking about nightmares helps them go away, anyway," he adds in a mutter, and Kageyama almost isn't certain that last bit was directed at him.

Kageyama can't help but stare at him, this young child, really, who hadn't even heard of a blight beyond fairy-tales and storybooks, who hadn't seen the corruption of it until just recently, and who never seemed to respond with the regular prejudices that Kageyama has become so used to facing, that he doesn't quite know what to do when it's not the reaction someone gives him.

When Hinata doesn't say anything more, just meets Kageyama's stare head-on, determined and refusing to back down, Kageyama gives in.

The words feel like they burst out of him, like the magic wanted to in his dream, harsh and fast and all at once.

"It's just about being made tranquil, ok?" he says defensively. "There's a million and one things to worry about as a mage, and I'm probably NOT going to be made tranquil, so it's just _stupid_ to worry about," he huffs in frustration, punctuating his words with slaps of his arms against his thighs, his face scrunching up in anger. "I don't even know where my phylactery is, it's been so long! If I should worry about _anything_ , it's that!"

The thought of his phylactery has him deflating, feeling like all of his energy has been sucked out through the words leaving his mouth. His arms fall, limply, back down to his sides, and his breathing starts to (finally) even out.

How many years has it been since he last saw his phylactery…? He doesn't even know where to start, to begin his search for it, let alone what to do if he found a _lead_ …

If there even _are_ any leads...

A simple, casual statement punctures through his melancholic thoughts like an arrow.

"What's a phylactery?"

Kageyama looks back up to stare at Hinata's face, his head tilting in disbelief.

"You don't. Know. What a phylactery is." He's not even asking a question, it's a statement. How could someone not know, something so basic?? So fundamental to life???

"I'm not a mage!" Hinata huffs, crossing his arms. "I just know it's… something to stop mages from running away?" He says it like it's a question, then gets defensive, glares. "I've only heard it in passing a few times, okay?!"

Before Kageyama can even _begin_ to think of a way to tell Hinata how incredibly, mind-bogglingly _stupid_ he is, another voice calmly answers the question.

"It's a vial of the mage's blood, enchanted to act as a locating beacon. Templars use them to track down apostates who've fled the circle."

Kageyama finds his gaze following Hinata's, looking back to see Yamaguchi sitting up from where he had settled down for the night. At their staring, he only shrugs. "You're not exactly quiet, and Tsukki had a nightmare earlier."

It seems like nightmares are on the menu tonight, and not just for Kageyama. Idly, he wonders if there is a fear demon nearby, or a weak spot in the veil, allowing spirits to leech at their energy…

"Hey, Tsukishima, you're a templar, so you probably know where they keep those phyla-terwhatsits, right?" Hinata asks, and Kageyama finds himself responding without even processing how _stupid_ the question is.

(Hinata may be kind, but he is also _woefully_ naïve.)

"Phylactery," he supplies, automatically correcting Hinata's butchering of the word.

Hinata simply nods. "Yeah, that thing. Do you know where they keep em?"

Tsukishima's blank stare is leveled at Hinata, and though his words are obviously meant in response, they're said in that dull, monotone, 'I'm talking to myself but _really_ talking to you as condescendingly as humanly possible' kind of voice.

Kageyama _hates_ that voice.

"There are literally thousands of mages and he thinks I know exactly where a specific phylactery is when I'm not even actively with the templars right now."

He can practically _hear_ the sneer and eyeroll in his voice, and Kageyama scoffs in return. 'Not active with the templars' his ass.

"But…," Hinata continues, seemingly undeterred, "I mean, there has to be some place they _keep_ them, right? Especially if they're used to – what was it you said Yamaguchi? Track down apostates?"

Kageyama watches the scene with vague interest. He's not sure where this is going, especially not since it's _Hinata_ who seems to be leading them there. He never knows where Hinata will take them next.

Yamaguchi nods at Hinata, and now Tsukishima is openly glaring. That face somehow feels calming, to Kageyama – the glare is a known entity, and Kageyama isn't too full of himself to admit he gets a little pleasure from seeing someone get under the templar's skin like this.

"The archives are huge! And besides, as a templar – even one who's sort of on… whatever this is, right now, inactive duty I guess, I can't just _give away_ its location! To a _blood mage_ , of all things? How irresponsible do you think I am?!" Tsukishima complains, shaking his head in derision at Hinata.

Kageyama narrows his eyes, mind finally having calmed down enough to easily process even the smallest details of what Tsukishima is saying. Why would he even bring up its location… if he didn't know? Or at least had a lead? Now that it's fresh in his thoughts, Kageyama's desire to find his phylactery is readily burning once more.

"You're not here to be a warden of your own choice," he says, staring Tsukishima down, "don't _pretend_ , we all knew it. You were sent to the order precisely _because_ I'm a blood mage," Kageyama brushes off Tsukishima's protests like they are of no consequence. And really, they aren't – Kageyama is stating well known facts. Or at least, they were well known among those at Ostagar, who are… all dead now, he supposes. "If anyone would know where my phylactery is, it would be you. The templars aren't _entirely_ stupid."

At least, they weren't when it came to things that they thought mattered, and in order to have power over every single mage they could get their nasty little hands on? Phylacteries _definitely_ mattered.

"Even if I _did_ know where it was, I wouldn't tell you," Tsukishima sneers.

Kageyama feels the magic jumping from his fingertips, doesn't need to look to see the electricity sparking between his hands. "You'll tell me if you like to keep your limbs intact," he says darkly.

"Ooooookay, maybe we should, uh, take a deep breath? Or something? And not kill each other?" Yamaguchi suggests, nervously laughing, and Kageyama _still_ doesn't know what to make of him. Why would a mage _ever_ side with the templars?? There was no such thing as a _good_ templar.

"Yeah," Hinata agrees, and Kageyama thinks maybe he'll have to fight him too, but then he keeps speaking, "though I do think Kageyama has a right to know where his blood-thing is. Like.. it's a part of him, right?"

Despite being unable to say the word phylactery, and having only just learned what one is a few minutes ago, Hinata seems to understand the situation better than the _other mage in the group_.

 _Maybe I can let him annoy me for a little longer_ , Kageyama thinks, and takes a deep, calming breath.

He doesn't bother stopping the magic from gathering in his hands, though, and he's still glaring murder at the templar.

Under three heavy gazes, Kageyama can _see_ when Tsukishima cracks, and though he's not _surprised_ by what Tsukishima says when he thinks about it (it _does_ make logical, logistical sense, after all), that doesn't mean he likes it, either.

"FINE! **I** have it! Happy now?"

Kageyama is certainly not happy, but he isn't exactly unhappy either. More… distrustful. "Show it to me," he demands, pulling his magic back, just under the surface of his skin, "I need to see it."

 _I need to confirm it's mine_ , he doesn't add, hungry for the attachment to his past while at the same time fearing it and what it might bring.

Tuskishima pulls out a lyrium kit, in a battered leather case. The sight is familiar to Kageyama, though he's more used to glimpsing them from behind doors or around corners.

Templars are _very_ possessive about their lyrium kits.

From the outside pocket, Tsukishima withdraws the phylactery, and Kageyama can feel his heart stutter in his chest.

He hasn't seen it for…

He can't even remember how long it's been.

And it looks just like when he last saw it – perhaps a bit dustier.

The glass vial is intricate, the stopper at the top a bit ornate, the glass glinting at the weak light from the moon above.

Kageyama wants it back.

He _needs_ to feel it in his hands.

He doesn't even register the others for a moment, consumed by his focus on the little glass of blood in front of him, until they speak again.

"…are you _sure_ that's his, Tsukki?" Yamaguchi asks, tilting his head to the side. "I've never seen one in a vial quite like that."

"I haven't seen this style used in _ages_ , only some of the really old ones from storage are like this," Tsukishima murmurs, staring at the phylactery in his hands. Kageyama itches to rip those fingers away from such an intimate possession. "Like… storage because those mages are _dead_ kind of old."

Tsukishima's gaze lifts to look at Kageyama, and Kageyama knows he has to act fast.

He can't have anyone realize… anything. It would complicate matters even more than they already are.

"It's mine!" He says, incredulously, "of course it's mine? You think I wouldn't recognize my _own_ phylactery! Now give it here!" He demands, unable to contain himself any longer, scrambling up and making for a lunge at it, though he's too far away to reach it in one leap.

Tsukishima reacts quickly, training kicking in, clutching the vial protectively to his chest, away from Kageyama's grabby hands.

"How can it be yours? You're like twenty!" he argues, and Kageyama is glad his face is down, toward the ground, so they can't see the stutter that flickers across his features. "And even if it is yours, I wasn't going to give it to you anyway!"

Kageyama wants to wrestle it away from Tsukishima's hands, but he doesn't, he restrains himself, the remnants of his nightmare are still ringing in his ears… the sound of "pay for his crimes" echoes, and he can feel the phantom locking of his magic not just beneath his skin, but away, somewhere that he can't reach it.

"Isn't it used to track mages?" Hinata asks. "Can't you just like… track whoever's it is, and see if it's Kageyama's or not?"

"That's a good idea," Yamaguchi agrees, looking expectantly back at Tsukishima.

Kageyama reminds himself that, with Hinata leading the conversation, it could go anywhere… he still feels the need to scramble for it, make a break for the phylactery and just _run_ with it, but he doesn't, he holds himself back, if only just.

"Alright, alright. Just give me some space, will you?" Tsukishima grumbles, and Hinata and Yamaguchi both shift slightly.

Kageyama gives him the tiny amount of space that pulling his hands allows, but doesn't move his body in the slightest. His magic is still skittering, just beneath his skin, as anxious as he is.

Tsukishima mumbles, the phylactery glows, pulls slightly toward Kageyama's direction – for a brief, glorious moment, Kageyama thinks it is going to shoot out and rush to his hands just like he deliriously wishes it would.

Of course, it doesn't, and Tsukishima's fingers quickly cover up the vial once more, and it darkens and stops moving in moments. "Huh. It _is_ yours." He looks up in surprise, confusion written across his features as he gazes at Kageyama. "The fuck?"

Kageyama can't help from tensing, somehow, more than he already was. His gaze drops before Tsukishima can find his eyes, and he looks at the ground as he mutters a petulant "I told you."

But the others don't seem convinced by that, and a small, primal part of him panics. What if they _know_ , what if they _find out_ , what if they _make the connections_ , what if…!!

He musters up a glare and looks up to meet the templar's skeptical stare. "They used a really old one outta storage, ok?"

It’s a long shot. They might not buy it.

But Hinata doesn't know anything about mages, it seems. And Yamaguchi… is a bit of a wild card, but doesn't seem to like confrontation, so he might not say anything.

Kageyama is banking on it, praying for it to be the case. Desperately hoping that even if Tsukishima isn't convinced, the others will drop it, that he'll be forced to drop it too.

Miraculously, it works.

"Well, what do we _do_ with it, now that we've got it? And we know it's Kageyama's?" Hinata, blessed, insufferable Hinata, changes the subject just enough that Tsukishima seems to drop the weirdness of the vial.

But Kageyama doesn't breathe easy yet. The answer to Hinata's question is just as crucial as the moment that just passed.

"Well, I'm not giving it to him, if that's what you're suggesting!" Tsukishima responds belligerently, pulling the vial close to his chest once more. Kageyama hates that he keeps doing that. "He's a blood mage!"

 _Hinata doesn't know much about mages_ , Kageyama thinks. _He doesn't have the same kind of prejudice…_

 _I might be able to reason with him_.

The thought is brilliant, and bright, and absolutely crazy, but so is Hinata, so it just might work.

"It's only used to track," he says, taking care to keep his voice calm, even, "it can't _control_ me." He glares at Tsukishima, holding his hand out expectantly, silently _demanding_ the little part of himself that had been stolen so many years ago is _returned_.

"I've been a warden for years, not part of the circle, not an apostate," he continues. "So I think I should have the right to destroy it."

"Blood magic has the ability to _control minds_ , shouldn't we have some kind of insurance in case he goes rogue?!" Tsukishima's voice goes a little shrill near the end, and Kageyama knew that him being a blood mage unnerved others, but it was another thing to see it up close.

Since it's Tsukishima, he's kind of glad he inspires that sort of fear. But he also wishes that it weren't _hurting his cause_ right now.

Yamaguchi is quiet, looking away from the others, and Kageyama knows he's pegged the other boy right: doesn't like confrontation.

So all he really has to do is convince Hinata.

Hinata sighs, but seems to be thinking about it. "Well… it's only for tracking down rogue mages, right?"

The others nod, Kageyama with a harsh jerk of his head up and down. This might just work… but he quashes the hope. It could just as readily fail.

"So… since Kageyama is the oldest one of the wardens amongst us, and we're in the middle of a blight…" Hinata seems to be thinking hard about his words, and Kageyama silently wills Hinata's brain not to fritz out on him now. This is _important_! Finally!

"He's not exactly going to be running away, will he?" Hinata asks, and Kageyama nods, again. Anything he can do to reassure Hinata. Whatever he can do to get his hands on that vial.

"And what if you fall in battle or something, Tsukishima?" Hinata continues, looking up at Tsukishima. "Would you want the darkspawn to be able to track the wardens down because of your own stubbornness? And besides," he closes, firmly, having finally made up his mind, "none of us should have that kind of control over another. It's not right."

A little part of Kageyama's heart soars, even as his mind scoffs at the idea of darkspawn working a phylactery… then again… he pushes away the intrusive thought with a shudder, and focuses on the moment. The danger has yet to pass.

"You heard me say _mind control_ , right? And it's not like darkspawn can work a phylactery!"

Kageyama's throat tightens, worried this might be the moment he loses the whole battle, but unsure of what he can say to make the scales tip in his favor… thankfully, he doesn't have to say anything.

Someone else does it for him.

Someone surprising.

"You don't know that for sure, and Hinata has a point," Yamaguchi says, quietly, gently placing a hand on Tsukishima's shoulder.

"And… though it makes me anxious," Yamaguchi continues, and that is decidedly _less_ surprising. "Kageyama's… right, too. He's a warden, not a circle mage or apostate. If anyone should hold his phylactery, it's the senior-most warden."

Kageyama counts that as a "technically on my side," from Yamaguchi, even though the other mage looked extremely uncomfortable agreeing with him. His hand is still out, and he shakes it impatiently, lips tight, gaze locked on the phylactery still clutched in Tsukishima's hands.

For a moment, Kageyama doesn't think he'll get it. That despite everything else, despite everyone around him – even Yamaguchi, who seems to have a close bond with the templar (though how a _mage_ has a close bond with a _templar_ of all things, Kageyama _really_ doesn't get) – that despite all that, everyone else being against him, that Tsukishima just might shove the phylactery back in his bag and dig in his heels on the topic.

But…

Then, something Kageyama had never imagined, even in his wildest (and not terrifying) dreams: Tsukishima holds his hand out with the vial, and starts to say something.

Kageyama doesn't hear what it is – probably wouldn't want to, it's likely some complaint and insult to him all in one go – he's too busy snatching up the vial, wasting no time, immediately throwing it to the ground, smashing it underneath his foot.

He's afraid that if he doesn't do it as soon as possible, something will happen – someone will take it back, or pull out a knife, or trick him, _something terrible would happen if he doesn't do it right now_ …

But nothing happens. He crushes the phylactery underneath his foot, angrily mutters that he's never going to be controlled by _anyone_ , ever again. Tsukishima packs his things up, offers to take the next watch, walks to the other side of their sad little makeshift camp. Yamaguchi settles back to rest as the tenseness dissipates.

Kageyama thinks he should feel some kind of relief, or joy, _something_ at the resolution of one (of the great many) fears he's lived with for years now. But nothing really feels different.

Well, that's not true.

He's a little less tense. There's a small amount of satisfaction.

When he glances around, he happens to catch Hinata's eye.

Blessed Hinata, unexpected Hinata, surprising and insufferable and energetic and shocking _him_ Hinata.

"…thanks," Kageyama manages to get out, to which Hinata simply nods, not breaking eye contact.

Perhaps the youngster deserves a little more respect that he thought, Kageyama grudgingly admits, settling back down to rest, forcing his heart to beat evenly, breathing deeply through his nose.

And maybe he'll have one less nightmare…

 

…  
  
Despite his best hopes, despite his now-nonexistent phylactery, the actual impossibility of the situation, a new nightmare arises from the depths of his thoughts…

A desiccated corpse, rotting with the blight, forever moving forward.

A face, lit up by the gentle light from a familiar vial, just barely recognizable beneath the damage to its surface, as if it's been torn apart from the inside out.

A familiar voice, ringing in his ears, leaving him to wake in a dead sweat.

"I'm coming, Tobio…

"You _will_ answer for your crimes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When ch1 is unlocked (and I'll probs mention this in that ch's notes when that time comes as well) I *highly* recommend rereading them in chronological order. It will be delightful, I can promise you that.
> 
> Next ch that will happen will be main storyline again - might take a while though, it's shaping up to be a pretty lengthy one.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment and/or kudos, I'd love to hear from you! And feel free to find me over at cloudmonstachopper.tumblr.com to yell with me about tragedy and Bad Decision Making


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